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1 * 2 * 3 [1] EDM Tips 4 5 6 • [2]FREE 7 • [3]COURSES 8 • [4]BLOG 9 • [5]JOIN 10 • [6]LOGIN 11 • Search 12 [7][ ] [8][ ] [9][SUBMIT] 13 More results... 14 15 [12][ ] 16 [13][*] 17 [14][*] 18 [15][*] 19 [16][ ] 20 Filter by Custom Post Type 21 [17][*] 22 23 EDM Song Structure: Arrange Your Loop into a Full Song 24 25 [18] 6 Comments 26 [19]Share33 27 [20]Tweet 28 33 Shares 29 30 So you’ve created a killer 8-bar loop and want to take your great idea to a 31 full song, but don’t know where to go from here? We’ve all been there before! 32 33 The good news is that you don’t need to feel disheartened: this is a super 34 common problem that happens to all music producers, and thankfully there are 35 some very straightforward steps you can take to get out of the loop and to a 36 finished arrangement…. 37 38 We get stuck because it can be very difficult to imagine each individual 39 section of a track before it exists. So, how do we fix this? 40 41 Start 2022 the right way! Download your FREE “New Producer Starter Pack” here. 42 43 Let’s look into EDM song structure, and use that knowledge as a template for 44 our own tracks almost like one of those Paint-by-Numbers books. If you use the 45 techniques outlined below, you’ll be writing full tracks and streamlining your 46 workflow in no time! 47 48 49 50 51 EDM Song Structure 52 53 So what exactly are the benefits of learning EDM song structure? Well, for one, 54 by learning the common ways in which other artists create and sculpt their 55 songs, we can use that as a template for when we get stuck in creating our own 56 music. 57 58 Additionally, using known song structures helps increase relatability and 59 appeal to a wider audience. The practice of purposely arranging your music in a 60 carefully crafted way is called arrangement, and is used in all types of music 61 – not just Electronic Dance Music. 62 63 In most Electronic Dance Music genres, your track will be in 4/4 time. This 64 means that in every bar (also known as a measure), there will be 4 beats, and 65 that the quarter note (the kick on every beat), will carry the song. 66 67 In this format, a bar is 4 beats, and a musical phrase is usually a multiple of 68 2 or 4 bars. In music theory, a phrase is generally just a grouping of bars 69 whose energy flows nicely. For example, your build might contain two separate 70 phrases; one that first hints at the melody followed by a second that 71 introduces a snare or clap build up. 72 73 Phrases build up, take down, or play around with the energy of a section of 74 your track to build interest, and create and release tension. 75 76 However, let’s take a step back and see what the main overall sections of an 77 EDM song structure are. 78 79 They are as follows: 80 81 • Intro 82 • Verse 83 • Build up 84 • Drop 85 86 Each of these distinct sections contains elements of your loop simplified, 87 modified, or generally expanded upon. Knowing what makes up these sections and 88 how they’re crafted is at the heart of how you transform your loop into a 89 full-fledged song. 90 91 Now, let’s see a rundown of which elements each section usually contains. 92 93 Intro 94 95 The intro is usually the simplest part of your entire track. It will usually 96 contain a stripped down beat to allow DJ’s to more easily transition into your 97 track, or – if you’re making a radio or Spotify edit – will have a very short 2 98 to 4 bar phrase introducing the main theme of your track. The intro also sets 99 the pace and expectations for what the track will deliver. (Will it be a 100 break-neck speed drum-n-bass track? Will it be a more chilled-out deep house 101 track?) 102 103 Verse 104 105 The verse is more complex than the intro, but often less complex than the drop 106 (or at least, conveying less energy). In vocal driven music, this is where the 107 majority of the storytelling of songwriting occurs, but in a lot of EDM, this 108 is where you establish your melodic motifs. These motifs – or small musical 109 ideas – should hint at your main drop melody without giving away your big, 110 exciting, energetic drop. 111 112 Build up 113 114 The build up typically contains risers, repetitive melodic motifs, and is 115 generally rather short (a notable exception to this rule might be an 8-minute 116 trance track). When creating build ups, you can also consider stripping down 117 your percussion and drums to the bare essentials, in order to juxtapose to the 118 heavy drop. 119 120 Drop 121 122 The drop is the hardest hitting part of your track. This is where the main hook 123 of your song lies, and where the energy in your track should be the highest. 124 You want people to get up and dance when they hear your drop! The drop can be 125 very simple, or very complex; this heavily relies on genre, so make sure to 126 listen to your favorite songs and use them as reference. 127 128 Structures 129 130 Many songs you hear on the radio or in the club utilize similar song 131 structures, with some key variation to keep it interesting. When deciding how 132 to structure your own track, listening and referencing your favorite track in 133 the same genre can be immensely valuable, as that track is likely commercially 134 successful and has a structure that is proven and works. 135 136 As a high level overview, structuring your song is a bit like designing a 137 roller-coaster. We want to bring the listener on a journey with the emotion and 138 energy from the track. This will help keep your listeners engaged, prevent them 139 from becoming bored, and hopefully keep playing your track for days, months, 140 and years to come. 141 142 You can even analyse the structure of existing songs and draw in an “energy 143 map” using an automation line, as shown here. 144 145 [EDM-Song-Structure-Energy-Map] 146 147 There are a few ways of representing song structure, but by far the most common 148 is to use letters to represent each part of a track. For example, a common song 149 structure in pop music goes as follows: 150 151 A B D B D E D A 152 153 In this instance, the letter A stands for an intro or outtro, B stands for a 154 verse, D stands for a chorus or drop, and E stands for the bridge of the song, 155 adding variety. Using this notation, we can quickly and easily create and plan 156 our song’s structure without getting too deep into the details and slowing us 157 down. 158 159 If we wanted to use a similar structure for EDM, we could use A B D B D A or A 160 B D E D A, both of which are fairly basic but common structures. In this 161 instance, however, the E section is an extended breakdown, bridge, or a new 162 section or extended verse. 163 164 Now we understand how song structure notation works, let’s look at a common 165 example of a more complex EDM song structure. 166 167 A B C D B C D A 168 169 This structure breaks down like so: 170 171 • A: These are the intro and outtro of the track. They are typically 8 or 16 172 bars in length. In some genres, you may have 4 bar intro and outtros; it’s 173 important to reference the genre you’re producing to ensure your song fits 174 in well with the genre. 175 176 • B: This is the verse in your track. The first verse is typically 16 bars, 177 and the second verse is 16 or 32 bars. 178 179 • C: This is the build of the track. Both builds are typically 8 bars in 180 length, although in some genres can be 4 or even 10 or 12 bars long. 181 182 • D: This is the drop of your track. A drop can vary in length but are 183 usually 8 to 16 bars. The second drop is typically either the same length 184 as the first, or slightly longer to develop a little bit of additional 185 energy. 186 187 EDM Song Structure - Track Breakdown 188 189 This is only one example of how you can structure your song, feel free to 190 deviate as much or as little as you want. During the music production process, 191 there’s tons of room for experimentation, innovation, and self-expression; 192 however, the vast majority of the time, you do not want to experiment with EDM 193 song structure. By doing so you make your track more difficult to understand. 194 No need to reinvent the wheel! 195 196 Song Structure and Genre 197 198 Now for a quick note on genre. Genre itself dictates a lot of how your track 199 should be structured. A tech house track is going to have a different song 200 structure than a future bass track, which will be different than an EDM trap 201 track. Additionally, the length of the track also fairly tightly correlates to 202 the genre, with pop-y tracks being shorter and club and house tracks being on 203 the longer side. 204 205 For example, future bass typically follow a more pop-like structure, with 206 longer fleshed out melodic verses and short 4 bar intros and outtros. Most 207 house music, however, has a significantly longer intro and outtro; 8 to 16 208 bars, sometimes even 32. House music also typically has fewer purely melodic 209 elements focused in the verses and breakdowns, and instead focuses on the vibe, 210 atmosphere, and groove, building up to an epic drop. 211 212 Let’s take a look at [21]“Chained For Love – B2A & Anklebreaker Remix”. This is 213 a hardstyle track and has a song structure of: 214 215 A B C D B C D A 216 217 Where A stands for your intro and outtro, B is your verse, C is the build, and 218 D is the drop. This is an extremely common structure in hardstyle tracks; the 219 verse is also typically split into a more vocal or lower energy first half, and 220 the second half is where your saw-driven leads come in to introduce components 221 of the drop melody. 222 223 Now let’s examine a future bass track, [22]“Lifeline – LODIS, Josh Rubin”. This 224 particular track has a structure like so: 225 226 A B E C D B E C D A 227 228 Note that this genre has a significantly longer intro than the previous 229 hardstyle track, yet the overarching structure itself is remarkably similar. 230 The key difference is the addition of E; which is a breakdown or pre-build. 231 This component lowers the energy right before the build, allowing the producer 232 to create a bigger feeling build. 233 234 Finally, let’s take a look at a big room / EDM track. We’ll use [23]“Cold – 235 Timmy Trumpet” as an example here. He utilizes the following structure for his 236 track: 237 238 B C D B C D A 239 240 “Cold” also shares a similar structure to the other tracks. In fact, it’s 241 virtually identical to “Chained For Love”, save for the lack of any sort of 242 intro, even though the sounds and overall general vibe of the genre are 243 strikingly different. 244 245 EDM Song Structure and Arrangement 246 247 Now we understand how songs are structured and how to structure our own track, 248 we need to decide on the genre we want our loop to fit, or what genre the loop 249 already fits. Then, identify which section of a track your loop fits into. Is 250 it a heavy and energetic drop, or is it more a verse or breakdown? 251 252 Once you’ve figured out these overarching details, we can start to think about 253 how we want to structure our track. You can use your DAW or even just a piece 254 of paper to map out each section of our song, and what should go where. Now 255 it’s as simple as filling in the gaps with elements from your loop, and you’re 256 well on your way to finishing your track! 257 258 Let’s go over some of the common scenarios you’ll find yourself in. 259 260 Starting with the Drop 261 262 Your loop is energetic and pumping; this is your drop. Let’s use an A B C D B C 263 D A structure for our track, just like the “Chained For Love – B2A & 264 Anklebreaker Remix” prior example. 265 266 EDM Song Structure - Straring with a Drop 267 268 Now you’ve identified that you have a drop, let’s expand it to two sections 269 with a little bit of melodic or rhythmic variation on the second iteration. 270 271 [EDM-Song-Structure-Starting-with-a-Drop-2] 272 273 Now we’ve gotten a full drop, let’s take a look at the build up. We can use 274 more filtered leads and pads, and switch up the snare or clap to a contrasting 275 rhythm to build tension. We’ll open up the filters and speed up the percussion 276 as the drop builds to further build up that tension before the drop. 277 278 [EDM-Song-Structure-Strarting-with-a-Drop-3] 279 280 Let’s take a look at the intro and outtro. Take the melody, simplify it and the 281 instrumentation, and use a stripped down drum pattern. You can also experiment 282 with some low and simple bass or some rhythmically simple chord patterns. The 283 outtro can be as simple as the intro, but instead of bringing in elements, we 284 take them out. 285 286 [EDM-Song-Structure-Starting-with-a-Drop-4-1024x337] 287 288 The verses should be a contrasting force to the drop, while still maintaining a 289 similar vibe. To quickly get down a verse idea, you can take the drop melody, 290 take it down to a lower register with some more interesting rhythmic chord 291 structures that build nicely into the build up. We can also add our second 292 verse, build, and drops. 293 294 EDM Song Structure - Starging with a Drop 5 295 296 Starting with a Breakdown, Verse or Intro 297 298 So your loop isn’t super energetic, maybe it fits well as a verse or intro. To 299 generate your placeholder verses, take the idea and evolve it with moving drum 300 patterns and chord patterns. The build up will then come more naturally, and 301 you can introduce a switch-up in drum patterns to help contrast this section 302 from the verses and drop. Work up the energy in the build up, adding faster 303 drums and risers and other effects. After this build is complete, usually 304 you’ll have a solid idea for the drop itself; if not, don’t worry! Take your 305 verse idea, take apart a one or two bar section, and build upon it to make it 306 as high energy as possible. 307 308 Referencing Existing Material 309 310 If you’re still struggling to build out your loop into a full track scaffold, 311 try using your favorite song as reference. In this example, we’ll use HOLIDAY 312 by Lil Nas X, a pop and rap song. 313 314 Import the track into your DAW, and set the tempo equal to that of the track. 315 Sometimes your DAW will do this for you, but if not, you can usually find it 316 easily on Beatport or other sites. 317 318 EDM Song Structure - Referencing Existing Material 319 320 Take a listen to the song in full. As you listen, mark down where each change 321 occurs in the song, and what the upcoming section is.Take a listen to the song 322 in full. As you listen, mark down where each change occurs in the song, and 323 what the upcoming section is. 324 325 EDM Song Structure- Referencing Existing Material 2 326 327 After going through the entire track, you’ll have an accurate map of the full 328 track, and can use the markers as guidelines on how you can structure your own 329 track. 330 331 Start 2022 the right way! Download your FREE “New Producer Starter Pack” here. 332 333 Conclusion 334 335 One of the hardest parts of music production is actually finishing your own 336 tracks, and not ending up with a hard drive full of unfinished loops. However, 337 using song structuring techniques, we can use them as scaffolding for us to 338 write better music, faster. When you create each section, make sure that each 339 section captures and holds the user’s interest in its own right; the best songs 340 are interesting throughout, (even in the intros and outtros!), not just during 341 the drops. 342 343 What do you struggle with most when it comes to EDM song structure? Let us 344 know in the comments! 345 346 [24]Share33 347 [25]Tweet 348 33 Shares 349 350 • [26]Music Theory & Arrangement 351 352 Related Posts 353 354 [27] 355 356 How to Write Catchy Melodies from Scratch (The Ultimate Guide) 357 358 [28] 359 360 Everything an Electronic Music Producer Needs to Know About Drum Programming 361 362 [29] 363 364 About the Author 365 366 My name's Will Darling. I've been making and playing dance music for over 25 367 years, and share what I've learnt on EDM Tips. 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